DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
We were invited to visit Franck Muller Group’s dial factory, the Arnold Linder SA, in Les Bois, Switzerland and I was nominated for the tour. Couldn’t be happier. This kind of occasion is rare and implies seeing and doing things not accessible to the general public. It’s not a common opportunity even for brand’s intimate collectors. In the last day of SIHH 2018, I head into the heart of Switzerland, to visit the manufacturer. I had the chance to meet lovely people and to deepen my knowledge. This is the factory tour report, with a personal touch.
The dial factory entrance awaits the visitors and artisans with a Franck Muller typical decoration – the numerals specific to the brand.
Les Fils d’Arnold Linder SA – Manufacture de Cadrans Soignés
Franck Muller is recognised for its fantastic dials. Starting with the brand’s recognisable crazy Arabic numerals and finishing with the complex decorated pieces, Franck Muller watches feature lovely dials. The tour as organised by Mr Jean-Paul Boillat, the manufacture’s manager. This is the first time the manufacture has opened its doors to journalists. Under this fortuity, over a full day, I discovered how a watch’s “face” is realised. To have an idea, look at the new releases before the SIHH 2018 here or at the Lady Tourbillon Gravity.
What made the tour interesting was the format in which it was done. This was not a dry presentation of how a single dial is produced, but an intimate view from the design phase until the final product. It was more a revealing of the workflows, issues and manufacturing processes that stand behind a dial production. It was a warm introduction, with colleagues and friends, in the mysteries of dial making.
Dial “applied decoration” departments – here are hand applied the numerals and other decorating components to the dials.
A journey and the pursuit of perfection
We began at the end. At the final stage of production.
Different dials types with different finishes: applied numerals, printed, applied decoration made on the mother of pearl, carbon or brass.
The clear intention was to see how a final product look. Having the finished product in mind it was easier to comprehend part of the complexity and the problems of dial manufacturing.
Fitting the numerals onto a carbon dial. Skills, precision and passion are three words describing every artisan from the Franck Muller Dial Factory
Every dial type requires a specific finish with applied numerals or decoration. The numerals are mounted one by one. The components are chosen and fitted. In case the result is not satisfactory, the process is restarted and taken from the beginning. The number appliques are fitted with pins and fixed using rivets, keeping in place on the dial.
By the precious numerals fitting, the last number will be “8”, in diamonds, as a lucky charm. In Chinese numerology, the number eight is a lucky number, therefore the diamond setting for this numeral. But the reason why this numeral is fitted last has nothing to do with superstition. Due to the higher value of the diamond set numeral, […]
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Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Dan-Andrei Kluska
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